. >> reporter: well, wolf, chuck hagel as you say was battered and bruised but is still standing after what was widely considered an underwhelming performance at the hearing. chuck hagel sat alone at the table, fielding sometimes hostile and tense questions from the colleagues, including one-time senator john mccain. >> that is a direct question, i want a direct answer. >> i'm not going to give you a yes or no answer. >> will the record show -- >> reporter: that exchange centered on hagel's past opposition to the iraq surge, a surge that senator john mccain championed. he looked at past statements. >> no one individual statement defines me. my believes or my record. >> reporter: he insisted he will lead, not follow, at the pentagon and around the world. >> america must engage in the world. not to retreat from the world. >> reporter: for hours, one republican after another accused the two-term nebraska senator of shading his true believes. among their concerns, past statements criticizing israel. >> do you think that it is right that israel was committing a "sickening slaughter" as you